speAKING OF NIGHTMARES AND TRAGIC BACKSTORIES--
Matty grew up pretty much without a father. His mother was a professional photographer and she traveled a lot for her job, but she was determined that she could raise her son without anyone's help. As such, he spent most of his time in the care of babysitters. The strongest male influence he's had in his life was Dahlia's boyfriend, and that turned out so swimmingly for everyone involved, so it's left him extremely nervous and more than a little paranoid about men in general.
He's extremely touch-starved. He's anxious, he can be depressed, he's lonely and feels like he deserves to die half the time. He doesn't sleep well. Sometimes he loses his appetite because he's depressed and goes days without properly eating. And the nightmares! Not only is his every waking moment a reminder of the fact that he is now the same kind of creature that raped and abused Dahlia and almost killed them both, but he relives becoming it in his sleep. He was, essentially, mauled by a shark, and then had to literally tear a man apart with his teeth and nails. He has nightmares about getting attacked, and he has nightmares about doing the attacking. It's been four years, and he's handled it as well as he can-- he's not suicidal anymore, he generally recognizes what he needs when he needs it-- but he'll obviously never be able to get over it. Not when there's teethmarks all over his neck and shoulder and the only reason he survived is because he ended up being a vampire himself.
